Amusement apparatus



H. F. MAYNES.

AMUSEMENT APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9. 1920.

1,353,929. PatentedSept. 28,1920.

10 I 7 a \Y I {6 "UNITED, STATESEATENT OFFICE.

HYLA FREDERICK MAYNES, OF GAINES, PENNSYLVANIA.

AMUSEMENT APPARATUS.

2" 0 aZZwlzom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, HYLA FREDERICK lvIAYNEs, ,a citizen of the United States, residing at Gaines, in the county of Tloga State, of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Amusement Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of "the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an amusement apparatus, the amusement being that afforded by a short car ride along a winding, tortuous railway, abounding in unexpected curves and atthe same time subjecting the rider to sudden speed changes. It is designed foruse at amusement parks and at fairs and is calculated to furnish a novel and enjoyable form of amusement.

The object of the invention is, therefore, to produce such a device and more specifically to design a novel and efficient type of projecting apparatus or that i mechanism which imparts the desired motion to the passenger-carrying cars.

A further object of the inventlon is to design car; especially adapted to travel on this type of railway and possessing certain novel features. 7

Other objects will be apparent from the following description.

The nature of this invention will be more clearly comprehended from a study of the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a general layout of the apparatus;

F'g. 2 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and showing the preferred form of projector;

Fig. 3' is a plan view of a section of the apparatus showing a modified form of projector; q I

Fig; 4: is a vertical section taken on line of Fig. 3;

i F i-g.- 5 is a vertical section of a car used in the apparatus and intended for use in connection with the pro ector shown in F igs.

1 and 2; V 1

-Fig. 6 is a similar View of a modified-form of car adapted for use with the'projector shown in Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig: 7 is a plan view of the car shown in Fig. 6; and i Fig. 8 is: a view of a modified type of car which be used with either type of pro ector; differing from. the cars shown in V hers 1? at either end.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 28 192() A pplication filed March 9, 1320'. Serial No. 364,468.

l gs. 5, 6 and '7 merely in the arrangement of the seats.

Referring to thedrawings, 1 indicates a tortuous guideway comprising vertical wall members 2 and horizontal track members 3 and having a plurality of reverse curves or turns. At the va ions turns of this guideway are situated projectors 4 which coinpri'se rotary disks 5 mounted upon a central axis 6 and supported by a series of rollers 7 which travel upon a circular track 8. Power is supplied to these projectors by any suitable means, as, for example, a cable 9 surrounding an annular sheave 10 although it is perfectly feasible to operate each of these 4; is similar in many respects to that shown in 1 and 2. Its relation to the track and wall members of the guideway, however, is difl'erent. As shown in Fig. 3, the inner wall ieniber is cut away where it becomes tangentv with the projector and allows the peripheral edge 11 thereof to serve as the innerwall member of the guideway. The outer wall member encircles the pro j ector and is positioned from the peripheral ed e of the projector a distance equal to the width of the guideway.

The cars used in'connection with the apparatus as shown in Fig. 1 comprise a frame 12 supported by swiveled rollers 13 adapted to run on track 3 and lateral projecting rollers 14 adapted to contact with vertical wall members 2 in a manner and for a purpose to be described later. Upon this frame l2is mounted a car body 15 of any desired type comprising a seat or seats 16. The ca also providedwith spring bumper mem- The car shown in Fig. 6 is identical with that shown in Fig. 5 with the exception of a rotatable disk 18 positioned upon the frame 12, but lying be low the floor of the car. This disk projects slightly from the sides of the car as clearly shown in Fig. 7, and is adapted to contact with the outer vertical wall member of the guideway and the peripheral edge of they projector shown in Figs. 3 and 4:. The edge of this disk is covered with someanti-friction material, preferably rubber. I In operation, the car asshow n in Fig. :1

and carrying passengers, is started by gravity along track-way 8' in the direction ofprojector 4;. This projector'is rotating at a 'tacts' with the rapidly rotating disk, the disk 18 is caused to roll around on the outer:

fairly rapid rate; lVhen-the car first'rides upon'the surface of the rotating disk the action of rollers 13 prevents the rotary motion of the projector from being immediately'transmitted to the car. However, in

the course of a fewseconds the car picks up momentum and is eventually whirled around on the projector between the vertical wall members of the guideway and shot forward along the track-way beyond the projector. In this manner, it passes from one projector to another, changing its direction at each turn and spinning now to the ,rightand now to the left until theentire circuit is made. The distance which these" projectors are from each other may, of course, be varied well as their number, and the speed of the car in the intervals between proj ectors, is, of course, dependent upon the length of this interval to a great extent. Thus, as the rap idly moving car is shot'from one projector, it may slow down considerably before it reaches the next one and 1n this manner the speed of the carinay be varied to any desired extent.

Vfhen using the type of projector shown in Figs. 3 and 1, the car does not ride upon the surface of the projector. Here the track-way 3 is below the plane of the rotating disk and the peripheral edge of this disk is on a level with the rotatable wheel 18 mounted upon the car. "When the car convertical wall member of the guideway and r ter' type of projector, however, the motion no slipping is allowed and in consequence, the car itself,' s moved rapidly around the curve. When us ng this latof the car is more erky than when the former type is used in view of the fact that i the motion of the projector is immediatelytransmitted to the car through disk '18.

The guideway l may be laid out in one plane or there may be depressions and elevations between the various projectors.

The modified type of car shown Fig. 8

n- 'dlfi'ers from those shown 1n rigs. o, 6 and 7 in that the seat cons sts of an annular bench 19 which is rotatably mounted one.

vertical axis 20 situated, in the center of frame 12. -As this rotates, it is supported by means of rollers 21 which ride upon the floor of the car. A hand wheel 22 is posi- V .tioned in-the center ofthe annular seat portion and enables passengers to hold their seats securely. As the car is shot around the unexpected elfects may be obtained.

'Iclaim: 7 V

1. An amusement apparatus" comprising a grudoway having reverse curve or turns a car adapted to move along said guideway and projectors situated at the-turns of the guideway designed to impart motion to the car and project it frqniturn to turn in an irregular and jerky fashion."

1 2. An amusement apparatus comprising a guldeway havlng re'versecurves or turns, a

car adapted to move-along said guideway, horizontally ro tating'projector's s1tuated at the turns of said guideway designed to 1mturn to turn. 3. An amusement apparatus comprising a guidewayhaving irregularly spaced reverse curves or turns, a car adapted to move along part motion to the carand project it from said guideway, horizontally rotating prot:

jectors situated at the, turns of said guideway designed to mpart motion to the car,

the relation of the foregoing parts being such that the cars pass from one turn to the next under varying conditions of speed.

' 4. An amusement apparatuscomprising a guideway having reverse curves or turns andhaving elevations and depressions be- ;tween some of its turns, a'lc'ar adapted to move along said guideway, horizontally rotating projectors situated at'the turns of said guideway designed to impart motion to the car, the relation of theforegoing parts being such'that the cars are projected from one projector to the next in an irregular and:

jerky fashion. 7 V

5. In an amusement vap'paratus,[a guideway having reverse curves and turns comprising track "members and vertical wall members, cars adapted tomove along said- 1 guideway, circular rotating projectors situ- "ated at some of the curvesjofthe guideway, the radius of curvature of the outer wall of the guideway being substantially the radius of the projector at that point, the upper sur-a 5 face of the projectors being substantially continuous with the track surface of the guidewaywhereby cars moving along the guideway and on to the surface ofthe proing partsbeing such that the earspass from turn to turn under. varying conditions of speed. Y

' HYLA FREDERICK MAYNES.

'jector: have the motion of the latter imparted to them, the relationofthe forego- In testimony whereofI aflix my signature. 

